Ryan came to The Arc of the Ozarks on 10/01/2014 weighing 325 pounds at the time of admittance. His parents asked that we work with Ryan on his weight and soon after developed a goal of exercise and proper nutrition. Ryan was then seen by his primary care physician and was told that his goal weight for a person of his size/stature would be 225. Ryan and his team then met and developed a plan to meet this goal. Ryan would exercise at least three times per week with staff and would work on nutritious portion appropriate meals and in return his parents would reward him with $100. Ryan held to his plan and would go run on the treadmill at the local YMCA with staff three times per week. Soon after, Ryan’s basketball season with the local Special Olympics program started and Ryan’s coach was very pleased with his progress and commented to staff, “This is the first Ryan has been able to keep up with the team running up and down the court.” Ryan soon got to where he would go to the YMCA every day of the week. Ryan would run a minimum of three miles on the treadmill each time. After each trip to the Y, Ryan would stop by the Arc office to weigh myself. Ryan would go up and down the hallways, telling everyone his progress! Ryan, at different Arc events, loved having the announcement made of his progress; everyone applauded!! Ryan ran his first one-mile run at the Arc’s Trick-Or-Trot One-Mile Fun Run on October 10th with his mother and sister in attendance. On October 26th, 2015 Ryan came up to the office to weigh in, on this day his weight came to 222.6; he made his goal weight! Ryan received one hundred one dollars bills from his parents following the announcement which he spent on a Blu-Ray player and movies. Ryan continued to need new clothing throughout the year due to his weight loss. At the time he met his goal weight, Ryan is now a 38/32 in pant size (that is 10 inches off his waist) and he now doesn’t have to shop at the big and tall store because clothing now fits him at other stores. Ryan continues to go to the YMCA and is maintaining/losing additional weight.
